I remember reading an interview with an actor once where he said (I'm paraphrasing here) "well my mate, he gave me this script and it said - scene in bar, talk, offense, bar fight (improvise everything else) - and I was well up for that, so yeah that's why I chose to do this film"

HAHA I love that joke...I have heard it but couln't remember how it ended...I always forget to say the mop but I start laughing and people look at me funny - they think I am laughing at a skeleton in a bar...

In a play or movie the tension doesn't have to show up on the page, that's what actors and directors are for! The sooner the actor gets rid of the page entirely, the better for everybody.

Hi Trom. Just asking: when tension does show up on page, do you as an actor get put off. Do you think the writer is treading on your territory. I"m asking because I have till now thought tension in written dialogue is a good thing. I want to know whether I was wrong in thinking that.

Hi Trom. Just asking: when tension does show up on page, do you as an actor get put off. Do you think the writer is treading on your territory. I"m asking because I have till now thought tension in written dialogue is a good thing. I want to know whether I was wrong in thinking that.

That I agree with. The writer has no business writing stage directions anyway -IMHO. I meant the tension in the dialogue - in writing the words of the dialogue to create tension/emotion. Sometimes the words of some playwrights are so strong I wonder if they leave no place for the actor to work. Do you prefer dialogue that works just for the plot rather than strongly suggests the character because character is what you will do and the strong suggestion in the words of the dialogue gives you no room to experiment. It is easy for a writer to nail a character so that there room left for pluralism. If I am not clear enough, I'll just drop this. I enjoyed reading your example. Funnee. I wanted to ask another question about acting, and acting is about words and langauge...

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